Fade Away
by unonymous
Summary: After Snow's departure in the Sunleth Waterscape, Serah takes in Snow's words, and begins to doubt... Serah/Noel


**A/N: Hey! So I just managed to get through the main ending of FFXIII-2, and the relationship between Serah and Noel still bugs me. There were times in the story where it was obvious that Serah still loved Snow, but then there were times where it seemed like Serah and Noel liked each other, I mean, I get that it's possible to travel with something for that long without feeling anything, but with those two and what they've said to each other at times, it was pretty hard to believe. .**

**Anyway, this is going to be a SerahxNoel fanfic, so don't read it if you don't like it! There may also be some implied side pairings(I wouldn't really count on it though).**

**The story's going to be pretty short. Probably a few chapters at most? We'll see. You'll notice that I will be skipping a few points at which they travel.**

**Summary: After Snow's departure in the Sunleth Waterscape, Serah takes in Snow's words, and begins to question herself and her feelings...**

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><p><strong>-Prologue-<strong>

_***flashback* (excerpt from Sunleth Waterscape Cutscene)**_

'_My time is up.' Snow explained as his tall figure slowly started to fade away._

'_No, wait! But we resolved the paradox!' Serah exclaimed in hysteria._

'_Maybe that's the reason.' Noel suggested. 'The timeline is correcting itself. Things that don't belong in this era are... disappearing. Snow is a contradiction. He comes from a past that no longer exists._

'_No! Stop it! I won't let you go!' Serah immediately ran towards his side and wrapped her arms around him with all her might, right at the verge of tears._

'_Sorry, Serah. I can't be with you here.' Snow spoke softly._

'_No! Please don't leave me! I can't lose you over and over.' Serah said weakly._

'_It'll be okay. Heroes never die.' Snow reassured._

_As Snow was fading away, Serah noticed the familiar tattoo etched on to her fiancé's forearm._

'_A l'CIe brand... But how?' Serah gasped._

_In return, Snow chuckled. 'See ya.'_

_With that, Snow faded away into green light._

'_Snow!' Serah screamed in a broken voice._

_**(A/N: End of cutscene. The rest of the story is fiction.)**_

_After Snow's disappeared, Serah softly asked, 'Noel, why is he a l'Cie?'_

_Noel looked at the pink-haired girl in shock. Of all questions, of all questions, that was the first? He didn't understand, but there was no way he could refuse the cute girl, especially when she was in a state like this, on the verge of tears._

_Without hesitation, he replied, 'Serah, we resolved the paradox in this time, anything that shouldn't be here goes away. That includes Snow.'_

_Despite the tears that streaked the young girl's face, a smile formed on her face, as if to reassure herself. Surely, this girl was a strange one. 'I see, I just wish that he didn't keep vanishing from my life, especially in front of my eyes. He just slowly vanishes, while I just stand there and do nothing.'_

_Listening to the girl vent out her thoughts, the brown haired boy could do nothing but listen. Whenever Serah cried, inside, he cried along with her. He couldn't allow himself to show weakness in front of her. After all, he made a promise to both himself, and the NORA gang, that he would protect her and never let harm come her way. It was times like these when Noel felt completely worthless. He was strong, but he couldn't protect the girl from emotional pain. That's also considered harm, is it not? After all, what could he do to stop Serah from being hurt by her "one true love." He was always, and will always, be second to him, and nothing could change that._

_But the problem was, that those thoughts are what bugged him. He originally joined Serah on this adventure with Yeul as his top priority, with Serah only as a companion, but as he spent more time with her, he couldn't help but to care deeply for the girl. Could it have been because of the pair solving the paradox? As they continued, more of the memories from his time started to fade away, which made things even more complicated. The thoughts confused him, but he decided to put the thoughts aside._

'_Noel?' Serah questioned with worry laced in her voice._

_Noel snapped out of his thoughts when Serah called out to him. As he heard her voice and the worry it held, he immediately became worried._

'_Serah? What's wrong? Did something happen?' Noel asked._

'_It's nothing. Don't worry.' Serah said with a smile. It was the first genuine smile that she had given since Snow left. It was only a few moments ago, but it felt like years had gone by for the pink-haired girl. The sadness she suffered in those few moments was too much to bear, especially since she had just gotten him back. But with Noel here constantly worrying about her, she knew she had someone who would always be there for her._

'_Shall we go look for that gate now? I don't think I can stay here much longer. It's fruitless if I stay waiting for him to come back.' Serah continued._

_Noel nodded hesitantly in reply. He didn't want Serah to get hurt anymore, but he also didn't want Serah to make any rash decisions. He just followed Serah as she headed towards the time gate. Jumping through the boundaries of time was something that he was willing to go through if it meant being with Serah. He didn't understand the feeling, but soon enough, he would learn what it was._

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><p><strong>AN: Okay, so this is the prologue of the story? It isn't much, but it'll get into more detail as the story progresses. Reviews would be nice (;**


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